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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22675108">You should have listened...</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ak47stylegirl/pseuds/ak47stylegirl'>ak47stylegirl</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>FabFiveFeb2020 [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Thunderbirds</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Blood and Injury, Gen, car racing, teenagers being teenagers</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 18:08:06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,032</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22675108</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ak47stylegirl/pseuds/ak47stylegirl</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Alan, why didn't you listen? (My attempt at @gumnut_logic FabFiveFeb challenge, Prompt used was 'dirt road')</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>FabFiveFeb2020 [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1631203</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>21</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They stood in the comm’s room, face to face, both unwilling to back down. <em>This was ridiculous,</em> he thought with a scowl as Scott talked down at him, <em>what did Scott know?</em></p>
<p>“No! You are not doing anything of the sort!” Scott frowned at him, his arms crossed in front of him. “That is incredibly dangerous, Alan!”</p>
<p><em>Incredibly dangerous? Flying a rocket was incredibly dangerous!</em> He thought with a scowl, his hands balled into fists. <em>Driving a race car was nothing compared to that!</em></p>
<p>“But Scott…” He glared up at his big brother, “I can fly a rocket, why can’t I drive a race car?!”</p>
<p>Scott scowled, turning his body half away from him and pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. “Alan, how many times do I have to say this..” Scott spoke quietly, his voice filled with frustration that threatened trouble, “it’s not that you can’t drive a race car, it’s that this race is unsafe!”</p>
<p><em>Unsafe? How was it unsafe?! It was one of the most famous cross country races there was! Scott just didn’t want him to have fun!</em> He thought as his eyes gathered with tears, despite his best attempts at keeping them away.</p>
<p>“No! You just don’t want me to have fun!” He snapped at Scott, his bottom lip starting to tremble, “you don’t think I can do it! You don’t let me do anything-I hate you!” He screamed angrily, making everyone in the room jump and take a step back, Scott included.</p>
<p>Scott’s eyes were filled with hurt, and he instantly regretted what he said, but it was done now, and there was nothing he could do about it. He turned sharply, running from the room as tears started to stream down his cheeks.</p>
<p>He slammed his bedroom door behind him and collapsed into a ball against it, starting to cry.<em> He didn’t mean to say he hated Scott, but this wasn’t fair! This was once in a lifetime chance, and Scott was stopping him!</em></p>
<p><em>It’s not every day that you get invited to drive in the 420 cross country race! It was The Race! And Scott was stopping him because of what? Some old dirt roads? </em>He scoffed to himself, glaring at his wall. <em>Lots of cool races are on dirt roads these days…</em></p>
<p><em>Scott didn’t know anything about races, </em>He thought angrily as he wiped his nose with his sleeve. <em>This race was fine! Sure, he knew races could be dangerous but he been in a couple of races already, he could handle this one…</em></p>
<p>
  <em>Sure those races had been made for beginner drivers, and someone with more experience had been with him in the race car but still! He could handle this race! He flies a fucken rocket for Pete’s sake!</em>
</p>
<p><em>So why didn’t Scott trust him or believe in him? This was a once in a lifetime chance for him, </em>he thought with a sniffle as his comm buzzed, but he ignored it. <em>This was his chance to do something for himself, to be more than the littlest brother…</em></p>
<p><em>He’ll show Scott that he could do this</em>, he thought as he stood up, a determined look on his face.<em> He’ll win that race, and then Scott will see that he wasn’t a little kid anymore, that he could handle this!</em></p>
<p>He turned on his computer and typed out a reply to the race company, reading 'I’ll be there and I’m winning this thing..’<em> Now he only needed to figure out how he was going to get there in the first place…</em></p>
<p>
  <b>—</b>
</p>
<p>He turned his car sharply, speeding around the corner with speed, leaving dust only in his wake. A couple of cars were behind him, swerving and dogging at his tail, trying to overtake him.</p>
<p>Adrenaline was running through his veins as he swerved and dodged around the rough terrain that was their track as well as made sure the people behind him didn’t get in front of him.</p>
<p>
  <em>His brothers thought he was at a game convention right now, they had no idea he was just about to become the youngest racecar racer to win this famous race! Sure they’ll be mad at him for lying but come on! He was about to win!</em>
</p>
<p>His team was taking in his ear constantly, telling him that he was coming to the halfway point now and that he needed to speed up,<em> those two cars were getting too far in front of him!</em></p>
<p>He pushed his foot down on his accelerator, his race car speeding up with a loud thundering roar. His car swung around a sharp corner, his wheels smoking as he almost lost control…</p>
<p>He didn’t notice the car that was spinning out of control, heading right towards him until it was too late…</p>
<p>
  <b>—</b>
</p>
<p>“Scott, we’ve got a situation..”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Scott, we’ve got a situation.”</p>
<p>John’s hologram appeared in the middle of the Comms room, looking deadly grim.</p>
<p><em>This was going to be a bad one, wasn’t it?</em> He thought as he stood up from behind Dad’s desk, sharing a look with Virgil who had stopped playing his piano at John’s statement.</p>
<p>“Lay it on us Thunderbird Five..” He commanded with a frown, <em>something was off with John, he seemed on edge and tense</em>. “what’s the situation?”</p>
<p>John sighed heavily, “There been a car crash at the 420 cross country race, a bad one and they’re requesting that we handle it…” John frowned at something on his screen, “I’ll fill you in on the way…”</p>
<p>“FAB, John, we’re on our way!” Virgil said as he ran to his launch, “tell Gordon to meet me down there!”</p>
<p>“FAB..”</p>
<p>He frowned as he made his way to his launch, <em>that had been the race Alan had wanted to take part in…</em></p>
<p>
  <b>—</b>
</p>
<p>“There are two or three cars that took the brunt force of the crash, the others luckily were able to avoid the same amount of damage..” John explained grimly, projecting an image of the crash into thunderbird one cockpit.</p>
<p>Gordon whistled at the image, a grimace on his face, “that’s some crash, any casualties?” Gordon asked over the Comms, a frowning Virgil next to him.</p>
<p>“One,” John said stiffly, his eyes hard and professional. “I don’t know which one or if there is anymore, all I know is that we’re on a time limit here..”</p>
<p><em>John was right, the longer it took to get medicinal attention to the drivers, the more chance that this rescue was going to become a recovery, </em>he thought with a grimace, taking a good look at the hologram, <em>You couldn’t tell where one car ended and where the other began-</em></p>
<p><em>Wait, was that?! </em>His eyes narrowed into a logo on one of the cars that he was all too familiar with. Dread filled him,<em> oh no, no no, <b>please no!</b> </em>“John, why is there a Tracy industries logo on that car…”</p>
<p>Virgil’s and Gordon’s eyes widened, taking a closer look at the hologram themselves. Virgil swore. </p>
<p>John just closed his eyes, his shoulders dropped before looking at him with a look that chilled him to the core. “You know the answer to that Scott…”</p>
<p>
  <b>—</b>
</p>
<p>He wakes to the sound of something dripping, his head not being able to make out what it was or even where he was. There was a ringing in his ears that only got louder as he gained more consciousness.</p>
<p>Something was running down his face,, and he felt weirdly off, he couldn’t understand why… he tried to touch his face to see what the wet thing that was running down his face was but was unable to move his arm, something was holding it where it was…</p>
<p>Pain was starting to register and with it was the realisation that he was upside down, he tried to move his neck to look at his surroundings but only gasped in pain, his body seizing up.</p>
<p>His vision was blurry and getting blurrier as he started to slip into unconscious again, but he could make out broken glass, bent metal, torn sparking wires but what caught his attention the most was that there was so much blood…</p>
<p>
  <em>His blood…</em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Thunderbird one hovered over the crash site, giving him a perfect view of the situation and it was even worse in person. The cars had rolled down a steep ditch, leaving bits and pieces of metal and tires behind. There were a couple of fires around the crash site, which worried him.</p>
<p>
  <em>If they didn’t act fast, this place was going to go boom, taking anyone that had survived the crash with it. It was going to take his baby brother with it…</em>
</p>
<p>“Thunderbird two, stand by in the air but don’t get too close…” he commanded as he landed thunderbird one a little bit away from the crash. “We don’t want a spark from thunderbird two to accidentally set this place ablaze.." </p>
<p>"FAB.." </p>
<p>He dismounted from one and made his way down to the crash site, using his grapple gun to help him climb down into the ditch. His eyes instantly went to the car that wore the logo of Tracy industries, and he felt unusually sick to his stomach. </p>
<p><em>His baby brother was in that car or what was left of it… </em>the car had flipped upside down and been crushed by the other vehicles. "John, I need life signs and any other info you can give me…” He commanded as he started to put out those fires around the cars, stopping them from spreading. </p>
<p>John gave a frustrated sigh, “I’m sorry Scott, but I can’t get a good enough read, something is messing with my scans..” John said before growling something that would have made Grandma wash his mouth out with soap. “I’m sorry Scott, you’ll have to do this the old fashioned way…" </p>
<p>He sighed, feeling John’s frustration. <em>It was their luck that the one time they really needed thunderbird five scans to work, they didn’t.</em> "FAB John..” He said as he dropped down to his knees, taking a look into one of the car’s windows. </p>
<p><em>He didn’t need John to tell him, to know that the person he was looking at was dead, the piece of bone sticking out from the neck said everything</em>, he thought as he turned his face away with a frown. “I found one of the drivers… they’re dead…" </p>
<p><em>He could only hope it wasn’t the same for Alan, oh please Allie, be alive,</em> he thought as he stood up and carefully made his way around the wreck, looking for any survivors. </p>
<p>
  <em>He wanted to go straight to his baby brother but he couldn’t, not just because he had to look for other survivors but because of Alan’s racecar was in a position where it was hard to access, crushed by the other cars.  </em>
</p>
<p>He looked into a different race car and saw someone, they’re eyes were closed but the moving chest gave him hope. "Gordon, I’m going to need you down here, I found someone, and they’re alive!" </p>
<p>"FAB Scott…” Gordon responded, his normal upbeat tone nearly nonexistent. “I’m on my way…" </p>
<p>
  <b>—</b>
</p>
<p>The first thing that went through his mind as he gained consciousness again was <em>that he should have listened to Scott…why didn’t he listen to Scott?</em> He thought as tears gathered in his eyes. He could barely move as something was trapping him in place, plus he was hurting so badly…</p>
<p>He could barely see anything, and his ears were ringing so loudly, the sound of something dripping like thunder to him. His head felt so heavy and weird, not letting him think straight…</p>
<p>He wished for his brothers, <em>he wished he listened to Scott, he wished he never took part in this stupid race in the first place! He should have known better! Scott would not have said no if there wasn’t a good reason as to why…</em></p>
<p>He could almost imagine what they would say to him, their worried voices telling him <em>to never scare them like that again!</em> He could hear Scott complaining that <em>this was the reason he was going grey and that he was ‘grounded for eternity, young man!' </em></p>
<p><em>He wanted his brothers so badly right now…</em>He could barely keep his eyes open, his vision nothing much than a blur of colours, red the most prominent as his blood was all over the place. He felt sick to his stomach like he ate a bit of Grandma’s chicken cacciatore, the fumes from the leaking engine making him more light-headed and nauseous.</p>
<p>He could almost hear them quietly asking him ’<em>why would he do such a thing? Didn’t he know that he had nothing to prove to them? Why would he put his life at risk when they had warned him that it was not safe? He could hear Scott’s clearly in his mind asking him why didn’t he lis-</em></p>
<p>"Oh Allie, why didn’t you listen to me?" </p>
<p><em>Wait, that wasn’t in his head!?</em> He thought as his eyes snapped open, his head instinctively looking towards where that voice had come from, but that only caused him to cry out in pain, his vision going black in places. </p>
<p>"Shh! Shhh.. don’t move Alan” a voice commanded, which he instantly recognised as Scott’s voice. He could make out a couple of other voices talking, but his head was hurting too much for him to focus, he could feel his hold on consciousness slipping…</p>
<p>“S-Sc-Scotty?” He croaked weakly, tears starting to fall from his eyes. “I..I’m s-s-so-sorry…I s-should h-” he coughed, blood beginning to run down his chin as his body screamed at him. </p>
<p>A hand touched his arm, “Shhhhhh…Sweetheart, we’ll have this discussion once you’re out of there, okay…” Scott’s voice was so gentle but firm as he spoke. “now please, I need you to stay awake for me…" </p>
<p>He tried…he tried so hard to stay awake, but his body just would not let him. "I-I’m s-sorry..” he gasps weakly, his vision fading to black as faint voices of his brothers begged him not to close his eyes…To stay with them, please Allie!</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><em>Three broken ribs, left leg Broken in two places, right ankle broken, left arm broken in four places, whiplash, concussion, internal bleeding…The list went on and on; Alan was so lucky even to be alive right now,</em> he thought with a sigh, watching as Gordon talked quietly to a semi-conscious Alan. </p>
<p>The sight of Alan covered nearly head to toe in bandages and casts, looking so weak and fragile, barely able to keep his eyes open or follow a conversation..<em>.It was almost unbearable for him; his little brothers should never look like that! </em></p>
<p><em>First Gordon, now Alan… what’s next?</em> He thought as he blinked a couple of tears away, his control over his emotions wavering. <em>This was torture…</em></p>
<p>He looked to his right as Virgil laid his hand on his shoulder, giving him a sad smile, a look of understanding on his face. The message was clear as day, <em>‘you’re not in this alone, this is hard on all of us…’</em> </p>
<p>He sighed softly, laying his hand on top of Virgil’s with a sigh, giving his brother a slight smile in thanks.<em> He didn’t know what he would do without Virgil to anchor him, he never wanted to find out…</em></p>
<p>Virgil smiled softly at him again before walking over to John, who was sitting in the chair next to Alan’s hospital bed, holding the kid’s good hand. <em>John looked exhausted…</em></p>
<p>This whole situation reminded him so much of Gordon’s accident, which had only happened months before and now it was another little brother in that hospital bed with very similar injuries… </p>
<p>Both his brothers had been crashed, but where Gordon had been in thunderbird four, with his helmet and protection gear, Alan had none of that…no helmet, minimum protection gear and Alan’s race car was in no way a thunderbird…</p>
<p><em>Again, Alan was so damn lucky to be alive, and even then, they still nearly lost him…</em>The kid had stopped breathing halfway to the hospital, forcing Gordon to breathe for him, desperately trying to keep Alan alive.</p>
<p>
  <em>It was terrifying to hear over the comms, so it must have been even more terrifying in person. No wonder Gordon was clinging to Alan like superglue, his cheerful chatter to Alan was a cover to hide how scared he was by those events… </em>
</p>
<p><em>He should probably take Gordon aside later and talk with him, </em>he thought with a sigh, watching his brothers. Virgil was gently feeding Alan some water by a straw, the kid looking so weak and feeble. He bit his lip, trying to stop the little whimper that wanted to escape him at the sight. <em>He hated seeing his brothers like this…</em></p>
<p>Alan had been rushed in surgery once they got to the hospital, the surgery lasting a good four to five hours. The doctors had informed him that Alan would need further surgery and lots of rehabilitation in the future if the kid ever wanted to walk properly without help again… his legs were badly damaged in the crash as was his left arm…</p>
<p>
  <em>It was Gordon’s accident all over again…Except this time it wasn’t the hood or the chaos crew to blame but a bunch of bad luck, plus the stubbornness of a teenager who thought he knew better…</em>
</p>
<p>This whole situation just made him unbelievably sad, you would think he’ll be mad because Alan directly disobeyed him, but he couldn’t find it in himself to be mad at the kid. Alan had already suffered enough, the kid didn’t need his anger..and in truth, he was just so damn <em>tired</em> of all this hurting and drama, he didn’t want to add to it…</p>
<p>
  <em>But this whole situation could have been avoided if Alan had just listened to him, why didn’t Alan listen to him? He needed to know, he needed to talk to Alan. One on one, big brother and little brother, guardian and child…</em>
</p>
<p>“Guys, can I have a moment alone with Alan, please?" </p>
<p>Virgil looked up at him before nodding, herding John and Gordon from the room with ease. He sighed as he made his way to Alan’s bedside, trying to think of a way to start this difficult conversation…</p>
<p>He could feel Alan’s baby blue eyes on him, watching him in suspense, waiting for…<em>for want? For him to explode in anger? To yell at him? Was that the kind of parent/guardian he had become? Is that why Alan didn’t listen to him? </em></p>
<p><em>This was a mess… </em>he thought as he dropped into the chair John was previously sitting in, rubbing a hand over his face. "Why…” It was soft-spoken and nearly inaudible with emotions, shaking with a need for answers. “Why didn’t you listen to me, Allie?" </p>
<p>Alan’s eyes were filling with tears at a record rate, "I..I d-don’t k-know..” Alan croaked weakly, bottom lip starting to tremble. A tear spilled down Alan’s cheek…</p>
<p>“That’s not an answer kiddo…” he argued softly as he gently wiped Alan’s cheek with his thumb, “What were you thinking? You directly disobeyed me and went behind my back, I got half a mind to ground you right now…" </p>
<p>Alan averted his eyes from him in shame, more tears spilling down his cheeks. Alan bit his lip, muffling a sob. <em>This conversation was not going well</em>, he thought with a sigh, taking hold of Alan’s good hand. </p>
<p>"Sweetie, please talk to me…” he spoke softly as he cradled Alan’s hand in his much larger ones, holding it against his cheek “I’m trying to be understanding here, but I need you to tell me why you would do such a thing?" </p>
<p>Alan’s eyes found his again, full of regret and sadness, "I…I thought you…you didn’t think I could do it..” Alan mumbled weakly, his energy draining fast. “That I wasn’t good enough…" </p>
<p>
  <em>He’ll be honest, that hurt… Why would his baby brother think that? Of course, Alan was good enough! Why would he think otherwise? He wouldn’t let Alan pilot Thunderbird three if he thought the kid couldn’t handle it…</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Haven’t he been making it clear that he thought highly of his brothers? That they were perfect in his eyes, that they had nothing to prove to him? That he was so damn proud of them and how far they have come? </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>But it would seem he hasn’t been doing a very good job of showing it…</em>
</p>
<p>"Alan, when I say no to something, it doesn’t mean I think you can’t do it or that you’re not good enough, sweetie…” he explained gently as he caressed Alan’s face, running his thumb under Alan’s eye, catching a tear. “I love you, and you have nothing to prove to me kiddo but you need to understand when I say no, I say it for a reason…" </p>
<p>He looked down at his feet with a heavy sigh, his eyes feeling slightly damp as he tried to gather his thoughts, "And you want to guess what that reason is?” He asked softly as he lifted his head, looking at Alan. </p>
<p>“Be-because y-you-” Alan coughed, his throat sounding as dry as a desert “-y-you w-w-want to…to pro-protect me?” Alan croaked weakly, looking so drained and exhausted. </p>
<p>He nodded as he reached for the cup of water, lifting the straw to Alan’s lips “that’s definitely one of the reasons, yes, but another reason is that I sometimes know more than you do, believe it or not…” Alan took a little sip of the water, his eyes looking so young and vulnerable. </p>
<p>“It may seem unfair, and like I don’t understand but believe me, every decision I make concerning you is to keep you safe Allie, I don’t make those decisions on a whim kiddo…” he said as he gently ran his thumb under Alan’s mouth, wiping up any dribble. “I have good solid reasons for them…" </p>
<p>Alan bit his lip and averted his eyes from him again, looking so guilty and ashamed, his eyes glistening with tears.<em> It broke his heart that it had come to this…</em></p>
<p>He gently caressed Alan’s cheek, making Alan look at him "You want to know why I said no to you taking part in that race?” He asked softly as he rubbed soothing circles into Alan’s cheek with his thumb.  </p>
<p>“I said no because there is always a crash on that old track, nearly every year kiddo..” he explained gently, watching as Alan’s eyes widened, “I knew that something like this could happen…”</p>
<p>“Oh…” Alan uttered weakly, staring off into the distance with wide eyes but that didn’t last long. “Oh!” Alan cried loudly, his face scrunching up as he started to sob, tears streaming down his cheeks. </p>
<p>“oh, Allie!” He jumped to his feet and pulled the kid in a sort of hug, being very gentle not to hurt Alan in the process, “shhh, shhh baby, it’s alright..” he whispered softly into Alan’s soft blond hair, stroking it gently as he tried to comfort his sobbing baby brother. </p>
<p>“it’s not alright! I should have listened!” Alan wailed as sobs exploded out of him, machines starting to beep loudly as Alan got more and more distressed. “I-I should have listened!" </p>
<p>"sweetie..sweetheart, you need to calm down…” he begged as his worry skyrocketed, <em>Alan was going to hurt himself</em>. “Please…" </p>
<p>Alan just cried harder, starting to cough in between sobs. The machines monitoring Alan were going crazy. A nurse ran into the room, followed by his remaining brothers, eyes wide in alarm. </p>
<p>"He won’t calm down!” He cried to them, all while knowing that his eyes were wide with panic. Everything happened so fast, the next thing he knew he was being held in an embrace by Virgil watching as the nurse gave Alan sedative, knocking Alan completely unconscious. </p>
<p>His brother’s sobs and cries echoed through his head as Virgil led him out of the room, the limp form of his baby brother laying on that hospital bed burned into his memory…</p>
<p>He broke like glass, shattering all over the hospital floor as the first sob escaped his lips…</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>The end?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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